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Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs

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Re: Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs

#71

Post by viiralvx »

gordjw wrote: post #48
viiralvx wrote: post #22

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Black male here, aged 18-25, Computer Science and Design student in my final semester of University. The roadblocks from a racial perspective is lack of resources and education, there is a fair amount of poverty within black America. Did you have access to a computer growing up? Maybe you had one or two in your house? Then you may have been able to learn more about programming from a younger age, or maybe you had a c…

Thanks for your response mate. I'm not American, so it's hard for me to tell what's going on in your society. My parents were fairly poor, although they never really let us kids feel like it at the time. But yes we did have a computer at home. I had some other comments, but the way you put this has really made me rethink them. I'll just say that if you make it to YC, then you're clearly doing something right.

Glad that I could offer my perspective, I'm hoping I am successful enough of an entrepreneur to get into YCombinator in the future, but I'm excited to see the diversity in new companies that get into Ycombinator.

Re: Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs

#72

Post by cfield »

meowface wrote: post #65
graeme wrote: post #63

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I didn't say YC was biased, specifically. I meant we all our, inasmuch as our culture produces bias against black people. Growing up in a biased culture, it would be very, very, very difficult not to acquire any. This idea has received some empirical validation from the implicit biases test. Some details here: http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2009/06/090617142120.ht... Other studies have compared the performance…

I agree that we all have implicit bias, and I also agree that it's good YC is broadcasting itself to groups of all kinds, but I doubt bias plays any significant role in the demographics of past and current YC batches, at least when looked at directly (choosing which applicants to accept, as opposed to indirect societal biases possibly causing people not to apply or to choose a different path).

Accepting that we all have implicit bias but saying that it doesn't play a significant role in who YC accepts seems to suggest that the YC application review process is able to overcome implicit bias. This may be true to some degree because of the number of steps and people involved in reviewing applications. However, I'm skeptical that it's so effective that it makes bias play an insignificant role.

Re: Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs

#73

Post by infoseckid »

I hate it when someone says we'd like to fund more from a "minority" such as women or black people or XXX like YC has done in the past. What does this do?

1. For the minority this makes them feel like they "need help" and they are "not good enough" unless they are given an unfair advantage

2. For the majority, it makes them feel sidelined and at an unfair disadvantage when applying

YC needs to just promote entrepreneurship and not colour. For the record, I am a coloured man, unfortunately not black to be able to take advantage of this latest "minority giveaway"

Re: Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs

#74

Post by cdmoyer »

thaumaturgy wrote: post #26
sama wrote: post #15

to be very clear, we do just try to recruit the best people regardless of race, gender, etc. you have to cast a wide net to do that.

The article doesn't say what you're doing to recruit more minorities. Are you making a PR effort, or developing different business contacts, or starting a new program, or...? Just curious. (And glad you're making the effort.)

The 3rd or 4th paragraph discusses the strategy. (No hard details.)

> It's adding black colleges to its recruiting swing this > fall, as well as reaching out to groups with strong ties > to the black community to increase the pool of applicants, > Altman said.

Re: Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs

#75

Post by livelybc »

antonioevans wrote: post #67

bullshit. we got a YC interview for summer 2014. We had almost 200k in revenue and outpaced it (2 months later) almost 400k. I am black spanish guy and cofounder female latin. Only people in our interview who look like us (or in the whole place). Not being angry at all just saying this is a publicity in my opinion. Our model didn't fit into what they were investing on at the time. We didn't need money but wanted to b…

It used to be that looking like Mark Zuckerberg would increase your chances of getting in. I think that speaks a lot to the kinds of bias that may exist.

Re: Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs

#76

Post by jmathai »

aikah wrote: post #69

I'm black ,what is this ? affirmative action pt2 ? you dont need to "recruit more black entrepreneurs" , you need to recruit entrepreneurs wether they are black,yellow,brown,man,woman,trans without prejudice,based only on their skills. Or if "Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs" means they were discriminated against before, we want a few good negros to look good, just like a few women here and there ,and…

I'm Indian. I don't believe I face the same difficulties that blacks do. It also feels weird to respond but I'll give it a go.

> We dont need help we need equality at first place,there is none.

I don't disagree. Don't you believe that making special efforts to get minority groups into something can do more good than harm? Perhaps it depends on the details of how it's done but if done correctly I think it can help.

There isn't equality and there won't be equality anytime soon. That's why I believe deliberate effort has its place. It doesn't have to imply an imbalance of equality. Instead it can acknowledge the imbalance of perceived equality and aim to eradicate the false assumptions.

I don't for an instance claim that one race or sex is intrinsically more intelligent. But I'll admit that I do believe entire groups of people are marginalized and it creates an unleveled playing field. One which should be level.

It applies to many groups. People who are poor, black, hispanic, gay, women, obese, unattractive, etc.

If you fall into these groups you'll have felt some level of discrimination. Some more than others (i.e. someone who's poor, black and gay will have felt it more acutely than someone who's just gay).

I don't know. I think it this can be done in a respectful manner with good intent and without being derogative.

Would you disagree? If so what's the more realistic solution?

Re: Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs

#77

Post by arjie »

aikah wrote: post #69

I'm black ,what is this ? affirmative action pt2 ? you dont need to "recruit more black entrepreneurs" , you need to recruit entrepreneurs wether they are black,yellow,brown,man,woman,trans without prejudice,based only on their skills. Or if "Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs" means they were discriminated against before, we want a few good negros to look good, just like a few women here and there ,and…

Suppose people of all races are equally capable founders. Suppose that it so happens that VC firms are only well known in certain demographics. We all know that often it is hard to recognize a problem if it doesn't affect you. If different demographics have at least some different problems, and if it is one demographic that's primarily being funded, then you gain a market advantage going after the less well known problems.

So don't take it personally. It isn't about you. It's about looking for the next big thing in a place that isn't as crowded with other treasure hunters.

Re: Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs

#78

Post by ajiang »

aikah wrote: post #69

I'm black ,what is this ? affirmative action pt2 ? you dont need to "recruit more black entrepreneurs" , you need to recruit entrepreneurs wether they are black,yellow,brown,man,woman,trans without prejudice,based only on their skills. Or if "Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs" means they were discriminated against before, we want a few good negros to look good, just like a few women here and there ,and…

I don't know if that's the intention nor the message this generates. It's easy and popular amongst tech folks to say "Why don't we just take the best?" or "Let's make it based on merit". The reality is that Silicon Valley, like much of the world, has its biases and faults. Statistically speaking, we don't have enough women or black people building and leading tech companies. Just compare the percentage of female and black students at Ivy League institutions with the percentage in tech. Racism and sexism might explain some of that, but pattern recognition also plays a major factor. Many hiring managers / VCs have had success in the past with a particular type of engineer / entrepreneur and, whether or not its a conscious decision, make choices influenced by that experience.

Y Combinator and others in taking a stance in supporting women and black entrepreneurs are not doing it out of pity or niceness. They recognize the existence of bias on race and sex, which should have nothing to do with how successful an entrepreneur should be, and are trying to correct it. They stand to gain a competitive advantage if they are able to remove bias from their investment decisions, and they can make a real impact on the valley. Kudos to them.

Re: Y Combinator to recruit more black entrepreneurs

#79

Post by michaelchisari »

smtddr wrote: post #61
robg wrote: post #45

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Can you explain how this happens?

First, let me say that I love how HN has matured to a point where an article like this can make it to the front-page and not get overrun with insanely long threads of people debating the definition of "racism" and if it exists or not in tech. Believe it or not, the story below is actually the very-shortened version.: I as a male with Nigerian-born-and-raised parents can tell my story about how I didn't know a single…

Well put. The biggest win won't be in giving the 1% of YCombinator applicants some kind of "unfair advantage" (something I disagree is even possible), but in growing that 1%. And that starts by letting potential entrepreneurs know the startup scene is even an option for them.
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